Haunted
by But I Have Promises To Keep
Summary: What are you most afraid of? When Natara's past is dug up by a series of unexplainable and seemingly supernatural events, can she survive the encounter?
1. Chapter 1

**Hey! This is my new horror fanfic, which everyone requested from my last story. Just so you know, the plot will be a little confusing at the beginning (definatly a lot of 'what the heck is going on?'), but will clear up eventually. This chapter may not make a lot of sense at first, but as you read more chapters I promise you will understand what's going on.**

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_"Fear is only an illusion. It is the illusion that creates the feeling of separateness - the false sense of isolation that exists only in your imagination"._

_—Jeraldine Saunders_

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"You okay?"

I looked down to where my knuckles were bone-white as they strangled the steering wheel, and noticing this I loosened my grip. My fingers were painful for a moment as the blood flowed to the tips once more, but after a moment I assumed my grip and pulled out of the parking lot.

"I'm fine, Mal," I snapped sharply, not wanting to talk at this time.

It had been about a week since Shawn had been put in a medically induced coma, and it was about time to 'pull the plug' as Mal had put it. I agreed, but Captain Yeong wanted us to follow up and make sure he was really gone. I figured she didn't want someone from the inside making it appear he was in a coma, only so he could escape later. She didn't want another comeback, and neither did I. So I had witnessed him die before me, watched as a heart monitor slowed to one solid beep. I had expected to feel relief because it was all over, but instead felt nothing. I figured it was a combination of Shawn's much hated presence and the environment of a hospital that made me so on-edge. Either way, I had snapped at anyone who got in my way as we left. I was expecting Mal's question.

"— and take the back way"

"What?" I asked. I was consumed in my own thoughts that I hadn't heard him.

"I said go around the hospital and take the back way. If we take the regular way we'll be stuck in traffic until morning".

Without another word I obeyed, pulling past the emergency entrance and entering the outskirts of the city. Buildings melted into trees, which melted into shadows as the sun set. It was late spring, so the air still held some of the suns warmth in it. I rolled down my window as I drove, feeling the wind take away any negitive feeling I had and replacing them with a feeling of peace.

"Look out!"

Mal had obviously seen something I hadn't, and at the speed I was going on this back road it was almost too late when I saw it. The inky-black form of a girl, how old I didn't have time to tell, was standing in the middle of the road. A scream of surprise stuck in my throat, I tried desperatly to swerve around the girl. I managed to just in time, missing her by a few mere inches. I tried desperately to regain control of the car, but as hard as I tried to turn the wheel it seemed stuck at an odd angle. I slammed down on the break, but I was just a second to late. I heard a deafening crunch, glass shattering, and finally Mal yelled something, and then everything went dark and silent.

There was a moment when the darkness and silence seemed to suffocate me, and then I felt a sudden chill. I felt no pain, but at this point I didn't know if that was a good or bad thing.

I opened my eyes slightly, only looking at the world through slits, fearing rubble getting in my eyes. "Mal…?" I called, but got no response. I opened my eyes wider looking around. I was still in the car, but it was almost completly undamaged. The windshield had a slight crack in it, the front barely crumpled up againt the tree I had hit. I was confused, I could have sworn I heard the windshield shatter. I looked beside me, panicking slightly when I saw no one. In fact, the seat belt was neatly unbuckled and the door was shut. It was as if Mal had never been there. Wondering what the heck was going on, I unbuckled and got out.

"What the heck?" I whispered, taking in my surroundings. There was snow, at least three inches on the ground, and it was still coming. It was faintly tinted grey, like when snow mixed with soot. Without closing the door behind me, I walked slightly away from the vehicle.

_'Where the heck am I?_' I thought. Surely I wasn't in San Fransisco, it didn't snow there, especially not in spring. But if I wasn't there, than where te heck was I?

"Hello?" I called, walking around the border of the trees "Mal?".

I turned back, concidering waiting by the road until someone else came, but I found there was no road anymore. Just more trees.

Completly creeped out, I turned back to the treeline before me. In the distance I could smell smoke, and hoped it was from a building. Maybe someone nearby could make sense of what happened. I cautiously walked past the trees, my trainers soaked with the grew snow by this point. When I cleared them I shivered, and it wasn't because of the cold.

"No…not again"

I knew where I was now, but that didn't mean it made any more sense than before.


	2. Chapter 2

**Review replies:**

**MexiFBI95: Thanks! I'm glad you liked my last story :) And the first guess you made about what's happening? It's so close it's a bit scary…**

**nat157s: thanks! I'm glad to hear you thought that…I was afraid people would think the first chapter was too boring…**

**Oryt: you think that was creepy? *evil grin* prepare yourself then… ;) A phobia of horrors? I'm guessing horror movies aren't really you thing then. Either way, I get it. I have Apiphobia. And psychological Fanfics? I'm kinda interested on what you mean by that. Anyways, thanks so much!  
**

**Just a Beatles Girl: thanks! And thanks so for the tip! Honestly, my proofreading is horrible. I just don't have an eye for it, but it seems like you do :) **

**Katlana Child: Thanks! That really means a lot! I've never heard of that movie, but I'm looking it up right now. It looks really good! I'm always up for a good horror movie :)**

**Jupal: Nightmare vortex…interesting interpretation…:) Thanks so much!**

**mozzi-girl: thanks so much!**

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I could remember my first ever case with the FBI. It wasn't officially my own case, whoever originally had it had been reassigned to a more important case and I was to complete theirs. Shawn was something like a mentor to me at the time. We were the same age, but since I had to switch majors half way through college he'd been in the FBI longer than I. He came with me, and I took it as he wanted to make sure I didn't make a rookie mistake. I didn't think the case was that big of a deal, but the things I saw there changed me. I saw a little girl in a hospital die, and her death was never even classified as a murder. I knew someone had killed her, and I thought I knew who did it. I was just too afraid to speak up, because if I was wrong it would land me in a world of trouble. I never said anything, and the fact that I did nothing haunted me forever. I always thought that was why I was afraid of hospitals, that and what happened with Shawn and I in Miami. That wasn't where it started though, it was the first bad experience that haunted me…

I shook these thoughts from my head. Of course this wasn't the same hospital, after the death of that poor little girl the place was shut down. I remembered reading in the newspaper that the girls mother had made sure the place had been converted to a nunnery after it was closed, but it had burned down a few years after it was founded. Based on this logic, this perfectly intact building couldn't possibly be the same building. Knowing someone would be inside because of the dark smoke coming from the small smokestack protruding from the building, I decided to seek help there. It took me a while to trudge through the grey snow, and when I finally climbed the small stone steps and reached the wooden door I was shivering from the cold. An old and rotting Christmas wreath had fallen off of the door, and I felt a weight drop in my stomach as I saw it. The little girl had died just before Christmas.

I knew this wreaths presence had to be a coincidence. It just had to be. Ignoring it, I knocked gently on the door. No response. I knocked harder, and this time the door came slightly ajar.

"Hello?" I called, peeking my head in the door "is anybody there?". It was completely dark inside, and after sticking my head in farther I crept in. I barely made it past the doorway when the door slammed behind me, without me even touching it. It startled me, and I whipped around to see what had caused it. There was nothing there, but being slightly paranoid about this I tried the handle, which broke off in my hand.

"Looks like I'm finding another way out" I whispered to myself. I wasn't really one to get scared that easily, but something about this place had me on-edge. Just hearing a familiar voice put me at ease, even of it was my own. Figuring I might as well check for service anyways, I reached for my phone to use as a light. But when reached in my pocket there was nothing there. It was gone, and so was my gun and everything else in my pockets.

_Relax_ I told myself y_ou probabaly just left everything in the car by mistake._

With nothing to light my way, I reached my hands in front of me and walked until I could feel smooth wood as I reached the other side of the room. I felt along the wall until I felt the cold metal of a door handle, and without a second thought I opened the first door I found and went through. I entered into a long hallway, and even though it was cloudy the dusty windows provided a small amount of light. It was still fairly dark, but at least I could see. I crept silently through the hallway, past several doors. I was half-way down the hallway when I saw it. A child, a girl I thought by the long hair, standing at the end of the hallway. The dust in the air gave her the appearance of being made of merely smoke, and she was looking directly at me. As I took a step closer she ran into a nearby open doorway, making no footsteps as she ran across the tile.

"Wait!" I called "come back!". I chased after her as fast as I could, but it seemed like this hallway never ended. By the time I reached the door she had disappeared in I was panting, I had thought the hallway was shorter than it actually was. I stood in the doorway and scanned the room, looking for the little girl. It was empty, but I recognized this room.

"No…" I whispered in shock, unable to believe what I was seeing. This room should be gone! It should have burned down years ago, all the memories it held long disappearing with the flames! Still panting, more so in fear now, I peeked my head back in to make sure my eyes hadn't deceived me.

They hadn't, I was right. This was the room where the little girls body was found. This was where she had died.


	3. Chapter 3

**Review Replies**:

**Katlana Child: Thanks! Just out of curiosity, have you ever heard of 'Silent Hill'? It's a movie and game series. The movie will freak you out, but the games…I only watched someone play one and I think it broke my mind… Anyways, thanks again :) _"And if this homemade dark-mark won't convince you…"._ **

**Just a Beatles Girl: Thanks!  
**

**mozzie-girl: Thanks! I will admit though, I've made it my goal to write something for every category (no matter how bad the story sucks) to improve my writing skills. What I'm not looking forward to is the humor category, not exactly my strong suit...  
**

**Oryt: Thanks! It's nice to know I'm not the only one terrified of bee's :) And stories that play mind games...do you realize how many idea's that just gave me? Anyways, thanks again :)  
**

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Her name was Addie Reed, and when I saw her for the first time she was already in the hospital. She was only five years old, with hazel eyes and brown hair that looked darker than it really was against her unhealthy pallor. I don't remember what was wrong with her, but I remember being told the IV in her arm was the only thing keeping her alive. That after a few hours she would die without it. She only had a mother, I think her father was absent and she was an only child. She loved horses, and the first time I met her she told me that and proudly showed me her best friend, a beloved hand-made stuffed horse. The reason I was called in because someone tried to kill her by replacing her IV bag with an empty one. When I was told this I didn't know who tried to kill her, or even if the empty IV bag was a murder attempt. It could have just been a mistake, no foul play involved. But I knew who it as soon as we found Addie's body.

The girls mother, a woman named Roberta who was so young she must have had Addie when she was a teenager, was always staying overnight with her daughter. But the day after I arrived she was acting strangely. She was walking quickly out of Addie's room when I almost ran into her.

"Sorry" I had mumbled.

She didn't apologize, but started at me strangely for a moment. I saw her tuck something beneath her coat. Something brown.

"Isn't that Addie's?" I asked stupidly. I could see what she had now, it was Addie's little stuffed horse.

"I'm taking it home to wash it" she said quickly.

That should have been a red flag to me, what parent would take a child's comfort object while they were in the hospital?

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I hadn't felt this in a long time, a gripping fear that held me and didn't let go. My heart was like a bird trying to escape it's cage, and I felt as if the breath had been knocked right out of me. But I had to keep going, there had to be a logical explanation for everything. I crept into the room, looking once again for the little girl. But she was gone, and there was nowhere she could have disappeared to. The walls were dull, but I knew they had once been several different bright colors. It was the children's playroom, and it was here that Addie had escaped her room and gone looking for her beloved horse. She had passed out on the bright carpet, unnoticed as she had been sneaking out late at night, and was only found dead in the morning. She had never found her little horse, and her mother had never admitted to taking it. The floor still had the white marks on the floor where she was found, the outline of a tiny body. I was just looking down at it when a ball, one similar to a beach ball, rolled slowly from its shelf and onto the floor. The noise it made when it dropped startled me, and I looked up.

"Relax" I whispered to myself, letting out a deep breath. It had to have just been a mouse that pushed it, or maybe a draft coming in. Surely not anything out of the ordinary. Remembering my original purpose for wandering around, I left the room without looking back. At this point I was considering breaking a window and going out, but I knew this was stupid. There was no reason to risk getting cut by the glass just because this place was a little creepy. As I calmed down I realized the girl could have been a figment of my imagination, or even a trick of the light. Assuming none of the doors along this hallway would help me, I continued until I reached the large door at the end and went through. I entered into a large skylight-lit room with more hallways branching off of it. Through the ominous silence I could hear whispering, the sound of secrets being exchanged. It was coming from one of the hallways. The noise was faint, so much so that I questioned it's existence. Determined to find a logical explanation, I followed the noise. A lifetime of seeing horror movies warned me against it, but else was I supposed to do? Maybe someone else was here and could help me. I crossed the room and tried to keep silent as I crept down the hallway, but every noise I made was amplified by the silence. Eventually the whispering reached such a volume it was almost deafening, and seemed to be coming from a nearby storage closet. Expecting to find it locked, I cautiously turned the handle and slowly opened the door. As soon as I did so the noise stopped, and I was surprised to see what was inside.

It was the tiny stuffed horse of Addie Reed.


	4. Chapter 4

**Review replies:**

**MexiFBI95: Thanks! Typical horror movie tragedy, bit of comic relief there :) **

**mozzi-girl: Thanks! I always struggle with writing funny things though. I mean, in real life I'm always goofing off with my friends, but most if it's usually the "you had to be there…" type of humor. I just struggle with getting it down in writing.**

**Oryt: Thanks! That's what I was going for :) I love horror movies, but if they just have mindless gore or jump scares they annoy me, so I get what you mean :)**

**Katlana Child: Thanks! Just saying though, Silent Hill done's have some gore and swearing. It's a really good movie, so don't judge it off of that. The game is what's really scary though. Also, is this turning into a quote war? Because I want to know "What the devil is going on here!".**

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_"Natara, why don't you take Miss Reed here elsewhere?" Shawn suggested._

_The little body of Addie Reed was lying before us in the playroom. Addie's mother was weeping before it, her face hidden in her hands. I listened to Shawn, he knew what to do better than I did. I held Roberta's upper arm and took her out, leading her into an empty hospital room and closing the door behind her. She sat down in a nearby chair, still weeping. But I could still tell her tears were false._

_"Cut the crap" I said, filled with the confidence of only having to confront her "I know what you did"._

_"I don't…" she sniffled "…know what you're—"._

_"Addie was looking for her horse, which you took. Do you think I'm stupid? There's no way a five year old could take that IV out of her own arm so perfectly, and Addie's arm had no other marks on it. It had to be taken out by someone else, and you were with her the whole night"._

_Roberta suddenly stopped her weeping, taking her face out of her hands to reveal a tearless face. "I was sixteen when I had her, I never had a chance to live my own life! What else was I supposed to do? Adoption? No one wanted her, she had too many health problems. No one wants to pay so much for a child that isn't their own"._

_"You're not going to get away with this! I'll make sure you get what you deserve!"._

_She smiled, a knowing smile that told me she somehow had the upper hand. "Good luck proving it. You're just a newbie, and I'm mourning my daughter, remember? How's it going to look if you go out there, accusing me of murdering Addie?". With that she got up, taking a minute to scrunch her face up so she looked like she was devastated, and walked out the door. All I could do was stand there, knowing she was right. There was nothing I could do._

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The horse was dusty from sitting on its shelf for so long, but it was undoubtably the same toy. Was this where Roberta had hid it, or had someone found it long ago and shoved it in here? Either way, I had an urge to put it where it belonged. I couldn't explain this desire, or even where this thought came from, but I knew I had to do it. I scooped the tiny horse into my hand, dust filling the air, and walked the framiliar path up to Addie's room. I didn't really remember how to get there, but somehow I ended up there anyways. It was as if something, or someone, was guiding me. As I neared her room, I started to hear it. The sound of a child's faint disembodied sobbing. It was the loudest as I walked into the room, but still so faint I couldn't even be sure that I wasn't imagining it. I was faintly surprised to see the room was dust-free and clean. It was as if a patient had been in here just the other day. Normally this would have surprised me very much, but at this point nothing seemed unexpected to me. I placed the dusty horse on the bed, where it looked out of place among the clean sheets. Maybe it was my imagination again, but I could have sworn that the sobbing changed to a girls high-pitched giggling. I smiled slightly at this, despite the fact that the giggling was coming from an unknown source. I gently patted down a wrinkle in the sheets as I left, and was able to take a relieved breath as I exited out to the hallway. But as I took this breath I could smell something. Smoke? I whipped around to see a fire, very far down the hall but coming closer. Flames were grabbing at the walls and engulfing then like a many-headed monster, and it I barely paused for a moment before I sprinted down the hall. But it was as if the fire was following me, I could feel the heat on my back. I got to the stairwell, but when I put my hand on the doorhandle it was so hot I could feel my hand blister.

"Dammit!" I screamed, jerking my hand back at the sudden unexpected pain. I sprinted around to another hallway, where I thought I could remember a fire escape being located. The smoke was beginning to get to me though, making my lungs seize up and causing me to pause several times as I coughed violently. But I could see it, a large window that I could only hope led to safety. It took a moment for my smoke-intoxicated mind and burnt fingers to work together to undo the latch, and by the time I had it undone I could hear the fire crackle just behind me. I threw open the window, relying entirely on hope that there was something there to catch me as I jumped out. I felt the rush of cold hit my face, and I drank in the air like a cold drink. I closed my eyes, fearing the end as I felt myself fall. The last thing I heard was someone, someone who sounded like Mal, calling my name.

"Natara!".


	5. Chapter 5

**Review replies**

**Katlana Child: Thanks! "You can't just _go _to pigfarts…it's on _mars…". _**

**MexiFBI95: Thanks!**

**mozzi-girl: Thanks! And it's like 50/50. I usually plan the beginning and end…and the actual story I just make up as I go along.**

**Oryt: Thanks a lot!**

**Sorry this is so short…I just don't have a lot to say O.o**

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"Natara!".

My eyes snapped open and I could see Mal kneeling over me. He said something, but it was as if he was on mute. I could see his lips move, but no words came out.

I blinked. No, Mal wasn't there. I was crouched, the now-white snow soothing to my burnt hand. I looked back to see the flames had destroyed the building, and it was lying in a burnt and smoking heap. I knew it was impossible that it had burnt so quickly, but I was just happy to be alive.

I blinked again. Mal was back again, and he was shaking me. I could see flashing lights bouncing off the trees's above me, the only thing illuminating Mal's face. I could feel wet grass soaking my back, and realized I was lying on the ground.

"Are you okay?" I could finally hear Mal say. Sound has returned to the world, and I could hear yelling in the background. His voice was utterly clear, and I was just glad that he was alive too.

"I'm fine" I said quickly. Actually, I felt like I had just been hit by a truck, but nothing seemed to be broken. I slowly sat up, where I could see a vehicle with flashing lights in the distance.

"How long have I been out?" I asked.

"Only a minute or two. You got thrown from the car, not sure why since you had a seat belt on, but I got you away from the road. I had a feeling an ambulance wouldn't do much if it ran you over".

I rolled my eyes at Mal's attempt at humor. I was relieved. I wasn't crazy or lost, it was just a dream. Some crazy scenario my mind thought up. I suspected my mind had pulled the recent memory of Shawn in the hospital now and the memory girl in the hospital all those years ago, and created this word for me. Yes, it had seemed very real, but nothing that wasn't explainable. The 'heat' from the fire could have come from the pain of being thrown on the ground. There was absolutely nothing that didn't have a reasonable explanation! Everything made sense now, and it meant…

"Ouch!"

I had pressed up on my hands to get up, feeling a sudden intense pain in the palm of my right hand. I pulled my hand away from the dirty ground, expecting it to be scraped up. I looked to see if it was bleeding, and gasped when I realized why it was the injury really was.

"Nat?" Mal asked, looking at it over my shoulder "How'd you burn your hand?".


End file.
